Support for Washington Office on Latin America - WOLA

The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) was founded in 1974 by a coalition of religious and civil leaders in response to the brutal military coup d’etat against Salvador Allende in 1973. The Washington Office on Latin America fosters human rights, democracy, and social and economic justice in Latin America and the Caribbean, and seeks a U.S. foreign policy that contributes to the achievement of those goals. WOLA’s Board of Directors has broad representation of civil society organizations – research and education, labor, policymakers, and the faith-based community. WOLA’s program areas include: the Andean region, Colombia, Cuba, Central America, Mexico, advocacy training, drugs, democracy, human rights, public security, and economic issues. WOLA offers a wide range of publications (reports, abstracts, and press releases) by country and issue topics, as well as links and resources on Latin America and the Caribbean.

WOLA serves as a bridge between its Latin America colleagues and the U.S. policy community. WOLA provides Latin American colleagues with both an understanding of, and access to, Washington — and has shaped U.S. policies toward the hemisphere in a myriad of ways by educating policymakers in the U.S., collegial organizations in Latin America, non-governmental organizations, academia, and regional financial institutions.

WOLA's work and programs complement and help to inform the CWS Social and Economic Development (SED) Program’s regional and thematic priorities in Latin America and the work of SED’s partners. In 2004, WOLA’s programs seek to strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations in Latin America and in the United States to formulate and advocate policies that advance democracy and equitable economic development while protecting human rights; engage with policymakers in multilateral lending institutions to promote greater access by civil society organizations to the policymaking process and more coherent policies by those institutions linking equitable development to greater democracy; strengthen democracy and human rights in the Andes and reorient U.S. drug control policy to the region; and promote increased public support and coherence of United States policies to strengthen democracy, promote and protect human rights, and foster equitable economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC region). WOLA achieves these goals by producing and disseminating policy analysis and in-depth reports (i.e. books, fact sheets, alerts, press releases) and by informing a variety of advocacy and lobbying efforts both in the U.S. and in the LAC region (i.e. testimonies before the U.S. Congress).

CWS has a long-standing history of solidarity with, and accompaniment of, Latin American peoples. By supporting WOLA’s work, CWS contributes to bringing positive change in U.S. policies toward the LAC region since there is a great deal of coincidence between WOLA’s agenda and the goals and interests of CWS, including just trade and sustainable development, Cuba, Colombia, and promotion of human rights.

One of WOLA's most important roles is to function as a key resource and interlocutor for Latin American non-governmental organizations (NGO's) working for human rights and social justice. WOLA also plays an important role in fostering dialogue, debate, and policy-consensus between U.S. and Latin American NGO's. WOLA plays a leadership role in several advocacy coalitions and regularly organizes workshops, conferences, roundtables, and briefings designed to stimulate policy debate. To carry out this work, WOLA maintains extensive contact with the U.S. government, the media, NGOs, international institutions, and collegial organizations in Latin America through briefings, press releases, written analysis, visits, and accompaniment.

Support for Church World Service helps make this program possible.

Updated 10/18/04